Chapter 1348 Second Peace Conference

An old saying goes: Things are forbidden to flourish, and they will decline when they flourish. On the surface, the current East African economy is in this state.

If countries around the world want to avoid this result, they can only open up new paths to get rid of the cycle. Britain and previous maritime hegemons before Britain have broken the limitations of their own development by constantly conquering other regions.

This is also the reason why world colonialism has been rising and reached its peak from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of this century. However, when the First World War broke out, colonialism obviously could no longer solve the original problem. After all, the world had been divided up and new markets could not be opened up.

This is also the reason why the two defenders of the old order, Britain and France, have shown a downward trend in recent years. However, from the perspective of the economic and social development of the two countries, Britain and France are not slow in development, but compared with the United States, East Africa, Germany and other emerging industrial countries, they are not good enough.

However, it is not easy for these latecomer countries in East Africa to break through the world order established by Britain and France, and Germany is the first challenger. However, Germany is ultimately unable to break through the shackles set by Britain and France in terms of size.

However, Germany's geographical disadvantage forced Germany to take a risk. Even if it did not start a war, it would eventually be strangled in the cradle by the surrounding powers.

East Africa and the United States, because they are far away from Europe, a place of trouble and large in size, have become amulets on the road to the rise of the two countries.

In fact, the process of East Africa's rise on the African continent is not much different from the process of the United States' rise on the North American continent.

When the United States was established, the enemies it faced were mainly the Indians on the North American continent, while East Africa faced the Bantu people in Africa. Although there was a time difference of hundreds of years, there was almost no difference in the level of civilization between the Indians two hundred years ago and the Bantu people in the colonial period of East Africa.

The former was good at stone tools and created a relatively prosperous stone tool heyday. Although the latter could make rough iron tools, its civilization was relatively scarce. Although there were several ancient civilizations in West Africa, where it originated, it was also a secondary civilization of Arabism.

But no matter how developed the two were, as long as they had not developed to a relatively mature feudal society, they would be vulnerable to Americans and East Africans with hot weapons.

Feudal society still has a certain resistance to colonialism, such as the Far Eastern Empire in the 19th century. If Ernst had faced the Bantu people with a level of civilization that could reach the level of the Far Eastern Empire, the Rhine royal family would not have been able to establish a foundation in Africa.

Let alone feudal society, most of the Bantu people did not enter the slave society, but were in the transition period between primitive society and slave society. Only in places close to North Africa, such as the Buganda Kingdom that was destroyed by East Africa, the Bantu regime was considered a relatively primitive feudal kingdom, which was still influenced by the Arabs.

The Bantu civilization is not even easy to identify using traditional civilization judgment methods. Even in feudal kingdoms such as the Buganda Kingdom, slavery may have been widely present.

This is like East Africa in the 19th century and the United States before the Civil War. There is no doubt that the United States was a typical capitalist country at the time, but there was slavery, and East Africa was even more complicated. East Africa in the 19th century was a complete hodgepodge, with slavery, serfdom, feudal monarchy, capitalism and even public ownership.

This makes East Africa stand out on the world stage. It is no wonder that East Africa was isolated from the outside world before the 19th century. If it had not been isolated from the outside world, the social system of East Africa would have triggered collective criticism from the international community. It was a type of country with all five poisons.

After entering the 20th century, East Africa gradually integrated with the so-called "international community" in terms of system, and this "international community" is now Europe.

Europe holds the world's discourse power and hegemony, so after European countries reach a unified consensus, they can naturally "define" any other place and country in the world.

The reason why the United States and East Africa were able to escape the disaster is that the countries within Europe could not reach a unified consensus on these two countries, just like Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire never pointed fingers at East Africa on issues such as social systems.

Although Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire looked down on East Africa, the African upstart, from the bottom of their hearts, East Africa was still a "poor relative" and half of their own people, which was one of the main reasons why East Africa favored the Allies in World War I.

…

October 1919.

European countries held a second round of peace conferences in The Hague, Netherlands, four months after the first peace conference.

At the first peace conference, although countries such as France and Austria-Hungary were already tending to end the war, the contradiction between Britain and Germany was the main obstacle to peace in Europe.

As the actual leaders of the Allied Powers and the Central Powers, Britain and Germany were unwilling to see the war end easily, after all, they did not achieve the desired results.

Britain participated in World War I mainly to suppress Germany, while Germany participated in World War I to subvert Britain's hegemony. The overall goal was not achieved, and both countries were naturally very unwilling.

However, as time went on, even if the two countries were unwilling, they had to give in to each other because of the delay of the war. In addition to the rise of anti-warism in their own countries and the activities of the Labour Party in Europe, the changes in the war situation also forced the two countries to refocus their energy on the negotiation table.

In order to promote peace between the two countries, this time, East African Foreign Minister Freer once again traveled across the ocean to The Hague, the actual political center of the Netherlands.

The last time Freer went to the Netherlands, it was to reach an agreement with the Dutch government on the redivision of power in the South Seas, but this time he became an important participant in mediating the European war.

This made Freer feel very emotional: "I'm back to the old place, but this time I'm shouldering the fate of the whole world. I hope that with our persuasion, we can usher in real peace for Europe and the Middle East."

The Dutch Prime Minister Kuyper, who came to greet Freer, agreed with his words: "Your Excellency is right. Peace is the general trend. I hope that Germany and Britain can put aside their grudges and completely end this damn war."

Prime Minister Kuyper can now be said to be one of the people who most want the European war to end. Although he is a pro-German prime minister, he must consider the interests of the Netherlands.

In the early and middle stages of the war, the Netherlands, as a transportation hub in Europe, made a lot of money as a middleman by relying on the Port of Rotterdam, the Rhine, railways, roads, etc.

However, in the later period of the war, the situation changed completely. On the one hand, the Allies officially decided to blockade Germany, and the Netherlands was naturally harassed by the Allies and under great pressure. On the other hand, after five years of war, the treasury of Germany, the main source of income for the Netherlands, was basically empty.

In summary, if the war continues, the Netherlands will not only be unprofitable, but may be turned into a new battlefield by the two major camps.

This is obviously not what the Dutch government wants to see. After all, the tragic situation in Belgium is vivid, and the Netherlands can't stand it. For a small country like the Netherlands, a war may make its wealth accumulated for a hundred years disappear overnight.

However, the situation in the Netherlands today is much better than in the previous life. In the previous life, the Netherlands was truly sanctioned by the Allies, and the Belgian refugee problem triggered a food and social crisis.

However, because of the existence of East Africa, the situation in the Netherlands in this life is much better than in the previous life. Even if East Africa no longer transports materials to Germany through the Atlantic, the trade between East Africa and the Netherlands has not been interrupted, which allows the Netherlands to still obtain external materials.

East Africa does business with the Netherlands, naturally, there is no need for any reason. After all, both countries are so-called "neutral" countries. It's just that in the later period, the scale of trade is reduced to the scope acceptable to the Allies.

That is, it is enough for the Netherlands to use, but it is unable to export to Germany, thereby expanding the scale of material exports for Germany's war potential.

At the same time, East Africa recruited a large number of Belgian refugees from the Netherlands, allowing the Netherlands to avoid the refugee crisis.

And the reason why East Africa is willing to give the Netherlands such special treatment, and even offend the Allies to a certain extent, is not without reason.

Just the colonies that the Netherlands has sold to East Africa in recent years, it is destined that East Africa's attitude towards the Netherlands is much better, which is a real benefit.

Moreover, as mentioned before, the Netherlands is the most important transportation hub in Europe, with the largest throughput and the largest port of Rotterdam in Europe, very convenient land transportation, and developed economic and industrial levels. These basic conditions are also worth East Africa's wooing the Netherlands.

So Minister Freer said to Prime Minister Kuyper in a friendly manner: "We in East Africa have seen your country's efforts for peace in Europe and the world. I believe that after peace in Europe, our two countries can further deepen cooperation in the fields of economy, diplomacy, culture, etc., and play a greater role in international affairs."

The Netherlands itself is a European country that cannot be ignored. At the same time, its South Sea colonies and East Africa also have exchanges and cooperation, so Freer does not mind continuing to strengthen the relationship between the two countries.

Faced with Freer's goodwill, although Kuyper is the prime minister of a country, he dare not neglect it. It can be said that since he took office, the exchanges between the Dutch government and the East African government have been much more than before.

Prime Minister Kuyper said: "I believe that your country can play a more important role in this meeting and bring peace to the whole of Europe. The Dutch government also hopes to help East Africa contribute more to peace."

After a brief exchange, the two rushed to the venue with their personnel.

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The countries participating in this meeting, except the Netherlands and East Africa, are still the other four major European powers, and it is still a secret meeting.

Even the United States, a major member of the Allied Powers, and the Ottoman Empire, a major member of the Central Powers, did not receive the invitation. The reason is very simple. The United States itself supports the war. If the United States is pulled into the meeting, it is likely to delay the progress of the meeting. As for the Ottoman Empire, it is simply not at the table.

Of course, the non-participation of these two countries is also in line with the ideas of the four major European powers. After all, this world war is essentially a European war. As long as Britain, France, Germany and Austria reach a consensus, the problem will naturally be solved.

The reason why East Africa can participate is that East Africa is the main initiator of the peace talks, and the Netherlands is the host.

When Freer entered the venue, he saw such a scene. The representatives of the Allied Powers and the Central Powers, especially Germany and Britain, exuded a strong anger, like two volcanoes that were about to erupt at any time.

The situation of the representatives of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was relatively peaceful, while the attitude of France was a little uncomfortable. This situation is also easy to understand. The Austro-Hungarian Empire had been active in the Eastern European battlefield before, and the Russians caused the greatest losses to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

However, things have changed in Russia now. If former Tsarist diplomats were present, they would probably not be as carefree as they are now.

France may feel aggrieved. After all, France knows that it is powerless to fight any more. However, the hatred of the French for Germany is deep-rooted, which makes the French representatives feel very complicated.

Freer chose to turn a blind eye to these situations. As long as the two sides did not quarrel or fight directly, the situation was not too bad. At the last meeting, the representatives of both sides were in a bad mood, and it took a lot of effort to persuade them to stop fighting.

Freer came to the podium and said, "Everyone, welcome to The Hague again for the second peace conference, but before that, I hope you can adjust your personal emotions first. After all, anger will only intensify conflicts, but cannot solve problems. Then our meeting will be meaningless, so I hope everyone can understand each other and promote the arrival of peace in Europe."

After setting the tone and diverting the attention of representatives from various countries, Freer waited for a while, and after confirming that the emotions of both sides were temporarily stable, he continued to speak.

"I still remember that it has been four months since the last meeting. In peacetime, it is just a blink of an eye, but in wartime, it can change a lot of things."

"And I think these four months have also deepened everyone's impression, that is, if the war continues, it will be difficult for the battlefield to change again, and the confrontation between countries will not only create more killings, but also intensify the social contradictions in your countries."

"Therefore, it is completely unnecessary to continue the war. This will only create opportunities for the Labor Party or other ambitious people in your country."

"Let me briefly talk about the current situation that everyone is facing The European war has fallen into a stalemate. If this war is not stopped, it will last at least two years. I think many countries cannot wait for more than two years. "

"Two years later, the most dangerous thing for everyone may not be the changes in the frontline situation, but the domestic marches, demonstrations, and even riots and revolutions..."

In 1919, the Central Powers and the Allied Powers each had their own victories and defeats, but the two sides still did not break the deadlock. As for the Central Powers, although the Central Powers recently reopened the Persian Gulf channel and restored the external source of materials, the Western Front is still difficult to break through the blockade of the Allied Powers, and the pressure is increasing.

The Allied Powers are just the opposite. Britain suffered a great defeat in the Persian Gulf. Among the entangled millions of troops, there are too many colonial troops such as India. Facing the elite of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Bulgaria who have been trained on the Eastern Front, it is impossible to organize an effective counterattack.

A large number of Indian defeated soldiers fled to Persia, which also means that the southern battlefield was torn open by the Allies. The Allies only have the position on the Red Sea coast on the southern battlefield.

Once the blockade of the Allies' supplies was lifted, even with the United States joining, it would be difficult for the Allies to gain an advantage. After all, American soldiers had to cross the Atlantic to reach Western Europe, not to mention that the U.S. Army's combat effectiveness was not strong, while the Allied forces had been initially relieved.

To be more precise, it was Germany's forces that were relieved. The Western Front battlefield used to be Germany's alone. Now that the Austro-Hungarian Empire has withdrawn from the Eastern Front, it can not only launch an offensive on the Southern Front, but also have spare strength to support the Western Front.

Of course, although the Allies' troop gap on the Western Front has been supplemented, it is not easy. Even if the U.S. soldiers are poor in combat effectiveness, they can still hold back some of the Allied forces, and with the subsequent replenishment of the U.S. forces, this has further increased the pressure on the Allies.

In summary, the Allies and the Allies are still unable to open up the situation. The final actions of both sides have offset each other's advantages to a certain extent, and the battlefield is still deadlocked. This is why Freer emphasized the four months after the first peace conference.

After all, at the first peace conference, the four countries of Britain, France, Germany and Austria may still have illusions, just in case the other side collapses! However, the fighting that has taken place in the past four months has proved that there is no end in sight to the war, so we still have to rely on peace talks to end this seemingly endless war.